The Roaring Twenties
by Something.Myffic
Summary: The Roaring Twenties – An age of bootleg, flappers, gangsters, speakeasies, and now, Tsubasa RC. Written for the Summer History Challenge on LJ. KuroFaicentric, but there are a multitude of other pairings in there.
1. Hooch

Title: Hooch

Author: smokexscribbles (LiveJournal name) something.myffic (FF)

Disclaimer: I am not CLAMP, nor do I own these characters.

Pairings: None yet.

Rating: PG, will be PG-15ish in future.

Warnings: Eh. Unbeta'd.

Summary: The Roaring Twenties – An age of bootleg, flappers, gangsters, speakeasies, and now, Tsubasa RC. Written for the Summer History Challenge on LJ. All facts are as close to historically accurate as I could get.

A/N: I had Fai call Kurogane "Kuro-puppy" and nothing else because I doubt Fai'd call him anything like "Kuro-chan" if both were born and raised in New York or thereabouts. Oh, and as for why this era? I just had this picture in my head of Fai and Kurogane listening to Duke Ellington on some old record, and thinking it was the coolest, newest, most interesting thing ever. Also, Kuro-bootlegger is a pretty sexy idea.

**1925**

**New Jersey**

Jazz blared out across the waterfront. Young ladies danced, bobs flipping back and forth, long necklaces twirling around in miniature whirlwinds of beads. And on deck, the moonshine was flowing freely.

It was the Roaring Twenties, the Jazz Era, and Rum Row was lit up.

On the deck of the ship, leaning over the railing, a tall, dark-haired man glared at the water like it had done him personal wrong. These kinds of parties always made him on-edge. The fuzz could show up any minute, as unlikely as that was in this part of town.

He turned around and watched the crowd. At least at these event there was something to see. The boats were always booking something for a show, whether it was a jazz band or a group of debs. Reluctantly, he started to enjoy himself.

The band stopped playing for a break, and Kurogane was surprised to see the violinist lean exhaustedly against the rail next to him. "Hyuu! We're really playing tonight, I've about had it." He peeked up at the bootlegger hopefully. "Butt me?"

Kurogane wordlessly passed him a cigarette.

"I'm Fai," the violinist said.

Kurogane hadn't asked, and made this clear by ignoring him.

"You have a name?"

"Kurogane," he growled. "Now don't you have a job to do here?"

The man just smiled at him, slightly distant and apparently not caring whether or not he was welcome. "We've got a ten-minute break, Kuro-puppy."

For about ten seconds, all the bootlegger could do was stare. The man was obviously completely ossified. "_What did you call me?_"

"Well, I thought you looked like a puppy, grr-ing like that. Kuro-puppy! Don't you like that name?"

Kurogane was about to strangle him, but the band started up again and Fai waved an airy good-bye.

He was sure, at the moment, that they'd never meet again.

XXX

Rum Row – Any place where bootleg was sold, but most commonly the boats on the coast of New Jersey. Many bootleggers threw parties on their boats to get more people to buy their liquor.

Fuzz - Era slang for police.

Debs - Debutantes.

"Butt me" - Mind out of the gutter, guys – He just wants a cigarette.

**1926**

**New York**

Almost a year later, Kurogane had found employment elsewhere, as a bouncer and a retriever of less desirable goods for a woman named Yuuko. She ran a speakeasy called The Cat's Eye, which was not actually reputable but also not a terribly dangerous place. For some reason, there had never been a bust, despite the fact that it seemed popular. Popular enough to make Yuuko rich, that was for sure.

The problem was that as speakeasies became more popular, Yuuko had started to lose business to more interesting places. This had led to her hiring a band. And the band. . .

"Hey! It's Puppy again!"

Kurogane moaned. It was going to be a long, long night.

"Why this band?" he hissed at Yuuko. "Why him, of all people?"

"Well, I like this band," Yuuko said, and when that woman had made up her mind that was the end of it.

"Kuro-puppy!" the blonde violinist wailed from across the room. "Come help us set this up…" he didn't even flinch when Kurogane stormed over to him.

"Do it yourself," the bootlegger glared. "You act like a jane."

Fai just laughed and started singing under his breath. "_Masculine women, Feminine men_

_Which is the rooster, which is the hen?_

_It's hard to tell 'em apart today! And, say!_

_Sister is busy learning to shave,_

_Brother just loves his permanent wave,_

_It's hard to tell 'em apart today! Hey, hey!"_

"Dry up," Kurogane said, almost amiably. "Scram, before I strangle you with that damn violin of yours."

Of course, that made Fai laugh again.

XXX

Jane - Woman

_Masculine women, feminine men…_ - This was a song poking fun at how liberal the 20's had become, written in 1926.

Dry up - Shut up/leave

XXX

Fai might be annoying, but Kurogane had to say that tonight, the band was hitting on all sixes. Yuuko knew what she was doing. He jumped as the very woman he was thinking about appeared behind him.

"Well, don't you look spiffy," she said, with a trace of smugness in her voice. "I didn't think you'd be the kind of guy to look good in a tux, but you, Kurogane, look like you're about to go up the middle aisle."

"Don't give me that line," he told her, but couldn't say he really resented the compliment that much.

"Your friend is playing well," she commented. Kurogane went an interesting shade of fury-induced red.

"That sap? No way is he my friend! He drives me- "

"Kurogane, please stop scaring the customers and serve some drinks," Yuuko said, smoothly cutting him off.

The bootlegger made a strange noise in the back of his throat, like he was trying to stop something from jumping out of it. Watanuki, a part-time waiter at the speakeasy, rescued him. "Come on, help me bus these tables." When he was sure he was being obeyed and Yuuko was gone, he said, "That woman's a regular bearcat. She creeps me out."

Kurogane made his noise again. "I could take her."

Watanuki looked at him skeptically. Reluctantly, he added, "Probably."

When the music stopped, Watanuki got to see an expression not many people could claim to have witnessed on the huge bootlegger's face – Fear. "Oh, shi-"

"Hey, puppy, buy me a drink?"

The poor waiter yelped as Fai plucked off his glasses. "Hey, look at these cheaters. I'll get a headache, they're so strong!"

"So don't wear them," Kurogane said, in a tone that suggested his sanity was not long for this world.

Watanuki's glasses were rescued by the other waiter, Doumeki, who handed them back with a little smirk. "Don't get them stolen again, you sap."

"_I told you not to call me that!_" the waiter hissed. "Here I am making you food and serving drinks and I don't know what else, and you . . ."

Kurogane pulled the violinist, who was apparently listening intently to the rant, away. "He'll go on for hours, go near him and you'll get an earful."

Fai smiled at him. "I still want that drink."

"Will it get you quiet?"

"Depends. Will you do the talking?"

He passed the man a drink, just to make him tone it down a little, and started washing glasses at the bar. "What am I supposed to say?"

"Tell me about yourself, puppy."

A ruthless smile crossed Kurogane's face. "Well, for one thing, I hate stupid names like that."

The man just nodded, like he'd never been so interested in anything in his entire life. "Go on, Kuro-puppy."

A glass shattered in his hand as he tried to remember not to kill their new violinist.

XXX

Hitting all sixes - Doing perfectly; literally, firing all six cylinders.

Up the middle aisle - Get married.

Cheaters - Eyeglasses

XXX

Kurogane remembered that one really interesting thing about Fai was how absolutely splifficated the man could and did get almost every night. It was hard to tell if he was more or less annoying when he was like that. He'd be serious one second, and the next, dancing around and trying to get Kurogane to dance with him.

"This isn't some pansy club," the bootlegger announced to a near-empty room, only the staff still there to clean up. "I'm not dancing with you."

Fai did the Charleston around empty tables, arms swinging, legs stepping back and forth, laughing at the entire world for not seeing how much fun this could be. "I could put on a skirt and a necklace, if you're only going to dance with the dames," he said, and did the Bunny Hug, grinning suggestively. Kurogane turned red and washed the glasses with more ferocity than they really deserved.

He decided that maybe the violinist didn't quite deserve to be strangled with his own violin strings, if only because it'd be an insult to such a great-sounding instrument.

XXX

Splifficated, ossified, zozzled, canned, corked, tanked, primed, scrooched, jazzed, plastered, owled, embalmed, lit, potted, or fried to the hat – Drunk.

Panst club - Gay bar

Charleston - Popular dance in the 1920s, considered fairly provocative for the time.

Bunny hug - Similar to grinding.


	2. Giggle Juice

Title: Giggle Juice (Or, making friends)

Author: smokexscribbles

Disclaimer: Not CLAMP. Making no money.

Pairings: KuroFai

Rating: PG

Warnings: Really, not much.

A/N: In case you were wondering, they live above the "diner" Yuuko runs.

**1926**

**New York**

The Cat's Eye was loud that night, with the music winding through the sounds of feet on the floor, laughing patrons, and the increasingly loud voices of increasingly drunk people. A minute before midnight, the music stopped to loud applause. Fai collapsed onto a barstool and waved a limp hand at Kurogane, who was acting as bartender. "Hey, fly-boy. Gimme a drink, I want to be as lit as they are in the next – Oh, twenty seconds." He grabbed the glass and swiveled around in his chair to yell with the rest of them –

"Five! Four! Three! Two! ONE! Happy New Year!"

XXX

Fly boy – Glamourous term for an aviator. Fai's just making fun of him here.

**1927**

**New York**

Fai leaned back on the counter, giggling. "Do you think I'll have bad luck this year because I wasn't completely embalmed by midnight? I've never tried it before."

"Tried what?"

"Not being jazzed on New Year's, puppy. Stop being silly and gimme another one."

Kurogane gave him a look. "These aren't all going to be free, I've got a job to do here."

"Don't be such a wet blanket, it's New Years! A time for loving and sharing and free alchohol!" the violinist whined.

"That's Christmas you're thinking of. Now pipe down."

Fai didn't; Fai never did. He kept smiling. "Kuro-puppy's in a bad mood because he didn't get his New Year's neck. It's okay, Puppy, I'm single too." He laughed when Kurogane glared at him.

"Why are you so happy all the time?" He hardly had time, after asking the question, to notice the brief panic that crossed the other man's face. It disappeared in a second, replaced by an even bigger smile.

"Just goofy on life, I guess – " he began, and was cut off by the bootlegger's hand pressed against his mouth. Halfway between turning red and teasing Kurogane mercilessly about it, he was about to say _something_.

And then, like everyone else in the bar, he heard the noise upstairs.

" - can't come in, we're closed, sir."

"I received reports of loud music, shouting – "

"The diner is closed after 8, sir."

"Yes, yes, I heard you the first time. What are your names?"

"Maru and – "

" – Moro, sir."

"And where is the manager? I need to speak to him."

"Mistress is sleeping in her apartment, sir."

"Can one of you go fetch her?"

There was a pattering of bare feet. Two girls, one with pink hair and one with blue, came tearing into the basement room. "Mistress, there's a policeman!"

"We tried to make him go away and – "

" – He won't leave!"

Kurogane looked over and noticed that Fai had gone white as a sheet. He started to ask "Are you okay?" but Yuuko's hissed, "Everyone quiet!" cut him dead before he even began.

She glided up the stairs, putting up an almost tangible aura that could most easily be described as pure vamp, on the prowl. Her voice echoed back to them – "Why, hell-ooo, officer…."

The voices got soft, and hard to hear. It was almost twenty minutes before she came back down, looking harassed. "Don't leave right away. They're going to watch this place for a while."

Kurogane tried to understand the deathgrip that the Fai now had on his wrist. It hurt, and he was certain that anyone that fragile-looking shouldn't be able to actually cut off your circulation. "What's eating you?" he hissed, perplexed.

"N-nothing," the violinist let go of his arm and smiled brightly. "I'm fine. We have to be quiet now, puppy."

He was about to point out that it wasn't really his fault, that all he'd wanted was his fingers back, but Yuuko gave him a devil of a look and he shut up fast.

XXX

Splifficated, ossified, zozzled, canned, corked, tanked, primed, scrooched, jazzed, plastered, owled, embalmed, lit, potted, or fried to the hat – Drunk.

Neck/Necking – Passionate kissing

Goofy – In love with

Vamp – An aggressive flirt, seducer of men

"What's eating you?" – What's wrong?

Kurogane had been carting bootleg from ports to bars for at least three years. He'd gotten good at it, and that meant he'd gotten more than a little paranoid. There was always someone, whether it was the police or a rival club, out to get you. So it was understandable that, when someone grabbed him from behind and pulled, he didn't stop to think before thumping them against the wall. There was a squeak, and then Kurogane's wrist was being bent in a way wrists were not designed to go.

"Puppy, let me up!" someone gasped from behind him, and Fai emerged as the intense pain in Kurogane's wrist lessened. "Jeepers, puppy, I can't ever get the jump on you, can I?"

The bootlegger glared at him. "Where the hell did you learn to do that?" He wanted to hit the man again when Fai pretended to blush.

"Well, you know, a pretty dame like me has gotta know how to defend herself…"

The heavy, fake Southern accent was probably what annoyed him the most. He cracked his knuckles meaningfully. "Self-defense? Maybe if you weren't such an idiot, you wouldn't need it!"

"You're so mean! All I wanted to do was ask you if you'd go out for a drink with me!"

Kurogane paused. "What? Why? We've got a whole joint rig- "

There was an enthusiasm in the violinist's tone that had previously been associated only with alcohol and annoying Kurogane. "I got us a place at the Cotton Club. The Washingtonians! There'll be all kinds of reporters and rich folks and celebrities, it's famous!"

"Says you! I'm not going to be able to get time off –"

"Yuuko's closing up for tonight, there's a police car outside. Please, puppy?"

Kurogane hesitated. It didn't sound like torture, true, and Fai was right there, staring at him like –

Which brought up a few uncomfortable questions. Possibly, tonight he'd be able to get a few answers. "Fine, fine, I'll go. Just quit futzing around."

Fai clapped his hands and did an excited little dance before remembering not to futz around and assuming a comically solemn expression.

XXX

Jeepers/ Jeepers Creepers – Jesus Christ!

The Cotton Club – Famous nightclub on 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue, in Harlem.

The Washingtonians – Duke Ellington's band.

Says you! – An expression of disbelief.

The nightclub was, it had to be said, amazing. All the chorus girls were beyond beautiful, there were none of those sketchy clients that showed up at the Cat's Eye, and the band –

Well. Of course, the Cat's Eye band was just as good. Better, maybe. Kurogane was shaken out of his thoughts when Fai grabbed his arm and started bouncing in his seat. "Look, puppy!"

"What am I supposed to be looking at, exactly?" As per usual, the scathing tone went right over Fai's head.

"It's him! That's Duke Ellington!" Fai said, with something close to rapture in his voice. "He's a genius! A revolutionary! He's amazing! And he's right there! He composes all the music! Isn't he great?"

"Don't have kittens," Kurogane moaned. "You stuck on him or something?"

"Puppy," Fai said with a serious look, "This is the person who is leading us into a whole new generation of music. He's an inspiration."

"The band's pretty good, I guess…" the taller man sighed and kicked back his chair with a sideways glance at his companion. "I know why you're so excited. You're completely jazzed, aren't you?"

Fai raised an eyebrow and swayed slightly. "Me? No." And then; "Yes, actually. Completely blotto."

"We're leaving."

"Not so good! Just a little while, puppy… I want to hear the end of the song."

Kurogane was about to actually pick him up and carry him out when Fai finally deemed it time to leave.

XXX

Have kittens – Have a fit

Stuck on – Have a crush on

Blotto – Really, really drunk.

Not so good! – I disapprove

The walk home was damp and chilly – A drizzle had broken out, and as it was after one in the morning they were having trouble finding a cab.

"Hey, you," Kurogane said. "Level with me. Are you, you know…"

The drinks he'd had managed to convince him that asking this was a good idea.

"No, puppy, I don't. Tell me."

"You know. Like _that_."

"What?"

"You _know_. The way you're always hanging onto me and you're more pinko than Yuuko and you're sort of a jane…."

"Oh. That." Fai blinked. "I am too lit to answer questions like that."

"It's just yes or no."

"We've got to go back. . . "

"I don't care! I just want to know!"

Kurogane realized that he'd shouted that last bit. The violinist winced. "Yes, okay? A regular William Haines," he said quietly.

"Oh." The silence was uncomfortable, and there was moonshine in Kurogane's head telling him to do stupid, stupid things. "At least you're good-looking. I bet anyone you meet is goofy for you ten minutes in."

Fai smiled weakly. "Ah, Kuro-puppy thinks I'm pretty. What about you, puppy? Fallen for me yet?"

Kurogane glared at him. Fai laughed. Yuuko yelled at them for getting back so late.

XXX

Pinko – Liberal

William Haines – Openly homosexual actor.


	3. Panther Sweat

Disclaimer: If I was CLAMP, there'd be four of me. Us. We. What the hell?

Warnings: Little icky and angsty, but nowhere near as bad as the actual series, so you're relatively safe.

A/N: Sorry, guys. Just. . . Sorry. I swear there will be a happy chapter later to make up for this.

**1927**

**New York**

"Can you teach me?"

Kurogane had been absolutely taken aback when the serious-looking little boy – He couldn't be more than fifteen! – asked, very politely but very firmly, to be taught how to run alcohol across the border. Now, it was getting annoying.

"You're a kid. Why do you want to get all mixed up with a bunch of hoods?"

For the first time in twenty minutes, the kid dropped his gaze and looked embarrassed. "It's just this girl, she..." he trailed off into mumbles.

"Oh," The bootlegger began to walk away. "Chasing a skirt. I can't help you there, kid, go home and ask mommy for some dating advice –"

"Please!" It was so abrupt and desperate that Kurogane turned around to look him in the eyes.

"Why should I help you?"

The kid's eyes were startling and far too intense. Bright green, which was an odd color even with all the Irish coming in. "I need to do it. For Sakura." He looked down and away, and added almost defiantly, "I don't know where my mom is anyhow."

Kurogane stared at the kid for a while. It was funny, really, how you could have something in common with somebody you'd only just met. "Fine," he said gruffly. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Syaoran. Where do I start?"

XXX

Hoods – Hoodlums

XXX

Yuuko was not surprised by the idea of Kurogane taking an apprentice under his wing. She seemed, in fact, to have been expecting it. "Take good care of him, oh, what was it? – Puppy, yes?"

Kurogane didn't say anything about the name, because she'd just threaten to slash his paycheck again, but he did have a rebellious undertone to his voice when he asked, "Can't someone else do it?"

"Ah, but who're you going to trust to teach him as well as you could?" And that manipulative witch had him roped in a second, easy victory.

Fai, on the other hand, was not only surprised but also absolutely overjoyed. "Kuro-puppy is going to be a daddy! You'd better be a good influence to him, raise him properly, it's a big responsibility!"

"He wants to put on a big face for his sheba, I'm not _adopting_."

The violinist was having too much fun to listen. "Puppy's growing up to be a big daddy-dog."

XXX

Sheba –Girlfriend.

XXX

"Please, Fai?" Yuuko was making that face again, the one that said she was going to simply die if whatever she wanted didn't happen. "Please? I'll do you a favour if you help me"

"I'm sorry," Fai said apologetically, "I just can't. I hate going to places like that, I get so jittery."

Yuuko leaned close to him and said conspiratorially, "I can make what you want to happen, happen."

Fai hesitated, and smiled. "If you really need me to, I guess."

The woman clapped her hands gleefully. "And now for your little 'wish'. Kurogane! I have something I need you to do…"

Kurogane poked his head out of the back room. "I refuse."

"Payday's coming up, gosh, rent on that apartment you're in seems to be going up and up and –"

"Fine! What the hell do you want?" the bootlegger said with bad grace.

"Can you drive Fai to the bank, please? He's doing me a little favour there."

Kurogane glared at Fai. "What, can't you drive yourself? Or get a jitney?"

The violinist made a face. "I can't drive. And I don't want some stranger driving me."

Kurogane looked almost comically put-upon, and got angry when Yuuko laughed at him. "Fine, but keep your trap shut." He led Fai out back and pointed to his car. Fai made an even stranger face.

"What, that old jalopy?"

"My paycheck? That's the best you're getting. Get the hell in. Why're we going to the bank, anyway?"

"Just taking care of some stuff," Fai said dismissively.

"And you can't get yourself there because…."

"I told you, I don't drive."

Kurogane snorted. "Not that load of hooey. I mean you don't want to go alone, do you?"

Fai didn't say anything, making the ride to the bank a very long one. When they got there, Kurogane was forced by the violinist to park on a side street, away from the police car that was passing. The bootlegger stared, and started to laugh. "I get it. You're on the lam, aren't you? The fuzz are after you. What'd you do, kill someone?"

"I am _not_ a criminal," Fai said with unexpected intensity. "Just forget it. This is on the up-and-up, so forget it."

There was something about the way he said it that made Kurogane decide to ask later, possibly at a better time. Possibly when the violinist had taken his crazy pills, or something.

XXX

Jitney – Basically a cab.

Jalopy – Junky car.

Hooey – Bullshit, nonsense.

On the lam – On the run.

XXX

Fai was on edge at the bank. He twitched slightly whenever someone came through the door, and kept glancing around. He was subtle about it, he made silly small talk and laughed in a jittery way, but it was so obvious that he was scared that Kurogane started to worry someone would think the idiot was some kind of thief. He put a hand on the smaller man's shoulder, which seemed to calm him down slightly. Well, he stopped looking like a mugger on his first job, at least.

So it didn't all go to hell until at least ten minutes later. That was when the i real /i robber carrying the big gun walked in the door and ordered everyone down on the ground. Within seconds, the patrons were screaming and occasionally crying, the clerks were trying (And failing) to hit the panic buttons, and Kurogane had decided he'd put up with enough idiocy for one day. He started to stand up, when Fai grabbed his arm. "No. He'll hurt you."

"I'll get him first," Kurogane hissed back. Fai shook his head.

"Just stay still and wait, please, puppy? Just. . . As a favour to me. I don't want you to get hurt."

Kurogane watched, horrified and hating the man for being so stupidly unaware his own self-worth, as Fai put his head up.

"Mister Bank Robber? Could you please let some of these people go? There are children," Fai said, or started to say, but he was drowned out when the robber roared, "I said stay down!" and put three bullets into the floor next to Fai's head. The shrapnel bounced up, fast and deadly, and in a flash of motion Fai was screaming and clutching the side of his head.

Kurogane stared as blood and something clear started to seep through the other man's fingers. There was a lot of blood, he noticed. On the floor. On Fai's hair. On his own shirt. He was angry, but it wasn't a hot anger, or a rage, he wasn't going to smash things or twist arms.

He was, very simply, going to have to kill the bank robber. It was simple in his head. Kill that man, remove the problem, and everything is jake. It was all very cool, cold, icy-clear, and he saw exactly how he could stand up, tackle the man, and shoot him to make sure there were no more problems. One shot, to make sure he wouldn't get away, that was legal, wasn't it?

Yeah. A shot to the head would prevent any inconvenient escaping crooks.

It was so _easy_, giving in to instinct and leaping forward. The robber didn't know what had hit him as he smacked into the floor under the force of Kurogane's full-body check. And he almost fired the gun, he would have done it, he'd be damn proud to be responsible for the death of someone this low...

Behind him, Fai made a soft noise. "Don't kill," he gasped. "Leave him." Then the violinist fainted and fell fully to the floor, in a pool of blood and vomit and vitreous humor.

Kurogane felt the anger drain out of him to be replaced by a sort of hopeless exhaustion. He nodded to a clerk. "Call someone. The police. And – Tie him up, or whatever you're supposed to do." Nobody moved. "Do it!" he barked, and the place started to buzz with activity. He went over to Fai – Some girl was trying to clean him up with a hankie. The bootlegger moved her out of the way; This was not the time for someone else to be anywhere near Fai. Nobody but a qualified doctor and Kurogane himself would touch this man now, and some part of him wanted to keep it that way forever. He scooped Fai up and walked out – Nobody stopped him. They'd seen what had just happened, and the look in Kurogane's eye was not one that was stopped at doors. A brick wall probably wouldn't stop him at that point. He walked to the hospital – A car would have been faster, but then he'd have to stop watching Fai and the idiot might choose that second to die. At the hospital, a nurse saw him walk in soaked in blood and started screaming bloody murder.

At least it got the emergency workers there faster. Fai woke up for a few seconds and started shaking, and they gave him a shot – Kurogane wanted to know why they were sticking him full of needles when he was already in pain.

"You bastard, if you die now I'm not coming to your funeral," Kurogane said, and Fai was so delirious he started to laugh.

XXX

Jake – Okay.

XXX

Fai was in the ER for two days. Kurogane wasn't allowed to see him, so he spent all forty-eight hours pacing the halls of the hospital. He'd decided that if he didn't sleep, if he was awake until the moment that Fai was wheeled out of the emergency room, everything would somehow be okay. As long as he stayed awake, Fai would be alive. If he fell asleep, even for a second – That was when he'd slip away.

When Fai finally did come out, it was slightly disappointing. He just slept, for an entire day. Kurogane sat next to his bed and stared at the cleanly bandaged space where a functioning eye used to be.

Fai made little wheezy purring noises when he slept, like a cat snoring.

Kurogane finally got some sleep, although it was sporadic and the smallest noises woke him up – It could be Fai, finally revived from his coma-esque sleep. (And Kurogane would never admit to it, but there were nightmares, bad ones, that involved staring blue eyes and coffins and a gunshot that rang in his ears forever.)

When Fai woke up, Kurogane was asleep. The violinist had a moment of absolute panic – The kind everyone has upon waking up in a strange bed with no knowledge of how you got there. He gasped quietly, and Kurogane was sleeping so lightly that even that was enough to wake him up.

"You're alive," he said.

Fai smiled weakly. "Disappointed?"

"Don't say stupid things," Kurogane admonished him, and wanted to beat himself over the head when he realized he was blushing.

"You saved me," Fai said. "Thank you."

Kurogane wondered if it would be acceptable to run out of the room, at least until this ridiculous blush that was happening for no reason at all subsided. "It's what anyone would've done, you goof."

The smile Fai was giving him was vauge and sending strange signals to parts of his brain he had no control over. The smile, coupled with the light coming in the window and the starch-white hospital gown made him look ethereal.

"I've got a question, Kurogane," Fai said. The lack of a nickname threw the bootlegger off balance.

"What do you want now?" he said gruffly.

The strange little smile. "Your reward. Cash or check?"

"You don't have to –"

"Cash or check, Kurogane?"

"It was a favour. You aren't paying me bac –"

"I guess it'll have to be cash, then," Fai said, and leaned over the side of the bed to kiss him lightly on the temple.

Kurogane turned red. "Oh. That."

Fai looked away abruptly. "Sorry," he said. "I just forgot, you don't, I mean, you've probably got some skirt I don't know about yet…"

"Don't worry about it," Kurogane said.

"I won't do it again."

"I don't mind."

"It's just, I'm used to – What?"

"It's okay," Kurogane said. "But you don't have to do anything for me. I'm just – Well, I'm just glad you aren't dead, I guess."

Fai grinned at him. "So. Theoretically, if I asked you again, cash or check."

"Oh, not this again –"

"What would you say?" Fai stared at him expectantly.

"Well," Kurogane said, and tried to think of how to say this without turning red again, "You're not moving much right now. So I'd say check, and see what happens when you're back on your feet."

It was worth it to see Fai's jaw drop.

XXX

Cash or check? – Kiss me now or later? Yeah, way to cause deliberate misunderstandings, Fai.


	4. Moonshine

Title: Moonshine

Disclaimer: I think you know by now I'm not CLAMP.

Pairings: KuroFai (Yes, really.) And SyaoranSakura

Warnings: None. Well. Possible brain-damaging cliffhanger.

A/N: It's happy! HAPPY! Mostly. Like, almost all of it. Really, I swear.

**1927**

**New York **

Kurogane had been talking to Syaoran when the boy suddenly brought up the subject of Girls, How To Spoon With. He didn't know how, and, it slowly became clear, neither did Kurogane.

He'd kissed a few girls. It just hadn't been all that great. "It's not all it's made out to be," he told Syaoran, who was unconvinced. He insisted that there must be something to it, or people wouldn't go on about it all the time.

"Maybe it needs to be the right person," he said, and you could see that he knew his Sakura was the right person.

Kurogane did not feel qualified to help him. "Why don't you ask that idiot?" he jerked a thumb towards Fai. "He'll probably give you a whole damn lecture."

Fai did so, with an almost unreasonable amount of enthusiasm. "I want to meet your little sweetheart sometime, okay?" He winked at Kurogane. "Little puppy?"

_"I am not a dog, he is not my child, and you are going to stop those with those names,"_ Kurogane hissed in one long breath.

He was happy, though, because Fai seemed just like his normal self. He hadn't said anything about his missing eye, or what had happened at the hospital, which was just as well, because thinking about it gave Kurogane strange thoughts and made him feel intensely uncomfortable. He'd just been teasing Fai. It was fair; Fai never stopped annoying him. Anyway, Fai should know that. Anyway, it was just a joke. Anyway, nobody would take that seriously, so it wasn't a problem.

Anyway, if Fai _had_ been serious, he could -

Something secret in the back of his head told him that maybe it wouldn't be all that awful, that it was just a kiss and he knew from personal experience with all kinds of girls that kisses weren't that special. But the part of his brain that controlled his body when he wasn't jazzed told him that he wasn't thinking that. It also neglected to mention that he'd always hated telling any kind of joke.

XXX

Fai sat in his apartment, staring at the tiny and ancient mirror that rested on the dresser. He stopped looking - He hated this, this disfiguration. He hated the idea that now, he'd be That Guy, the half-blind one, he'd be someone they all felt sorry for. He pressed the bandages gently and felt a pain that went down to his bones. The doctors had done a good job, but this was going to take a hell of a long time to scar over.

He turned when he hear a noise behind him. Kurogane was leaning in the doorway. "You're very sneaky," Fai observed. "I didn't hear you come up the stairs."

"What are you doing?"

Fai shrugged, and smiled, and Kurogane wanted to hit him. "Nothing."

"Are you worried about how you look? About that eye?" Kurogane snorted, showing his contempt for the whole situation. "Don't."

"Let's go downstairs," Fai said.

"You're avoiding the question."

"It isn't important. I'm not worth worrying about, so let's go."

Kurogane blinked. "You are worth worrying about," he said, like it was obvious, like there was no reason to think otherwise, and it made Fai angry.

"You don't know everything about me, Kurogane," he said quietly. He fiddled with the things on his dresser - Coins, bits of blue rock, feathers he'd picked up, rearranging them over and over and all the while refusing to look up.

"Who cares if you've got an eyepatch?" Kurogane asked loudly, knowing he was being insensitive and loving it. He wanted to piss Fai off, make the man hit him, anything to stop him being so passively depressed.

"Please leave, Kurogane," and really, that was the end of it.

The bootlegger made his way downstairs to the cafe part of the Cat's Eye, hitting a wall and scaring some of the more skittish customers on his way down. Fai was infuriating no matter what mood he was in.

XXX

**1927**

**New York **

The music in the Cat's Eye was hard to hear that night, mostly because of the noise of people chattering. It was there, though, jazz that slowly wound down into silence a minute before midnight. Kurogane was expecting Fai, and already had a glass of hard cider out for when the violinist showed up. Thirty seconds later, the glass was half-empty.

"You're in a good mood," Kurogane observed.

"Of course I am, puppy," Fai said cheerily. "I'm always happy, you know. And I've trained my doggie to get me a drink before I even ask for it, isn't that exciting?"

Kurogane didn't rise to the bait - He settled for glaring and silently wishing the roof would collapse right where that sap was sitting.

"And I'm sure nobody's going to notice us this year, so everything is ab-so-lute-ly copacetic." he continued.

"So what is it with you and the fuzz?" Kurogane started to ask, but was drowned out by -

"Five! Four! Three! Two!"

Fai stood up and leaned across the bar.

"ONE!"

"Happy New Year, Puppy-dog," Fai said, and kissed him. He tasted like hard cider.

XXX

Copacetic – Great, amazing

XXX

**1928**

**New York**

Kurogane was taken by surprise, which did not happen very often. And he was sure he should be angry. He wasn't, not at all - Fai had a feeling of _close_, there was no other way to describe it, and he'd never felt it before. It was the feeling that this person at this moment was so close you were breathing the same air, and the feeling that it would be a good idea to get closer.

It had been very different from any kiss he'd ever had before.

The violinist was sitting back, sipping his drink and staring at him. Smiling. "Well, there you go. Good luck for the New Year."

Kurogane couldn't think of anything to say except for – "Um. That was. For the hospital?"

Fai nodded and propped his head up on his hands. "You look surprised. Did you think I wouldn't do it?"

"Um." Kurogane hoped he wasn't the shade of red it felt like he was. "I didn't expect _that_."

The violinist stood up and stretched. "Let's go outside. I want a ciggy."

It wasn't raining outside – It was misting, a heavy, wet fog silencing all but the loudest New Year's activities, the kind of weather that did not warrant an umbrella but slowly got you soaking wet. It ate up sound and made it hard to talk, like the silence in a graveyard. Some silences beg to be filled up, suck words or whistles or songs or screams out of you. Others, and this one was of the second type, make conversation more difficult than it should be. The cigarette glowed in the night, and even though Fai himself was almost invisible in the pea-soup fog, the tip moved gently when he breathed or spoke. Kurogane coughed. "So."

"So," Fai agreed, the red dot that was the top of the cigarette moving up and down.

He'd've liked to let the silence go on. It was a good silence for thinking. When it looked like Fai was ready to go back in, he said – "What made you decide to play violin?"

The dot moved as he shrugged. "My… dad, he got me lessons. Classical, though. Not this."

"You're good. You could be in a swanky orchestra, better pay. Why this?"

Another shrug. "Sometimes people do things. He had my future planned out, and I didn't like it, so I left."

Kurogane was slightly shocked. "You ran away from home?" He hadn't thought Fai was the type. Now that he thought about it, it made sense. He was always running from something, it seemed – The police, questions, sometimes even Kurogane.

The red dot jiggled as the violinist laughed. It wasn't a happy laugh. "It was a long time ago, puppy. Three years."

"Is that why you're on the lam?"

The dot moved back and forth as he shook his head. "I said it was a long time ago. Just being lost from home, they won't keep them after you for so long. A lot happens in three years. People forget."

"Parents don't forget their children." It came out with slightly more venom than he intended.

"Oh? Where are your parents, puppy?"

Kurogane sighed heavily and looked up at the sky, impossible as it was to see. "They died. My father in the war, my mother of Spanish flu in the same year."

"I'm very sorry." The cigarette, now just a butt, dropped to the ground and was extinguished with the heel of Fai's shoe. "Do you miss them?"

"I was little. A kid. I miss them, but the past is the past. There's no reason to worry about it too much,"

Fai stood up straight from where he'd been leaning against the wall. "The past is the past? Lovely philosophy, Kuro-pup. I like it." He started, very slowly and speeding up, to dance, in the silence and in the fog. The Charleston.

"Dance with me, puppy," he said.

"I'll look stupid."

"Do I look stupid?" Kurogane had to admit he didn't. Dancing, slightly damp, really smiling for once, with a streetlight behind him making the fog glow, Fai looked perfect. "If I don't, neither will you. Dance with me."

They danced around the streetlight, and nobody saw them, and Kurogane thought that it would be a really good idea to press Fai against the lamppost and kiss him.

He did it.

It turned out to be an even better idea than he'd thought. Fai made a small, surprised noise, wrapped his arms around the bootlegger's neck and kissed back. He tasted like ashes this time, but underneath was something sweet and alcoholic, and really it didn't matter because Fai knew what he was doing and could kiss very well indeed.

"Look at us," the violinist gasped when they broke apart. "Necking in the dark like some scared teenagers."

"Don't tell that witch I work for," Kurogane said. "I'll never hear the end of it."

They stayed out there until Watanuki called them back in, saying they needed the bartender back and the band was doing one last number.

XXX

Teenagers - Everyone knows what it means, I was just surprised to find out it originated in the twenties.

XXX

It was two days later – Two days filled with uncomfortable moments and awkward stares - that a girl burst into the Cat's Eye and asked, breathless, to see Yuuko or Kurogane, whoever was closest. Yuuko ushered her upstairs and shut the door.

Ten minutes later, she came down and informed Kurogane that Syaoran had been arrested, and the chief of police had some sort of bargain he wanted to make. It involved Fai.


	5. Coffin Varnish

Disclaimer: Not mine guys, not mine.

Warnings: Mehneh.

A/N: "Coffin varnish" is, like all the other titles, a name for bootleg liquor, the only difference being that it implies the bootleg is dangerous or poisonous.

**1928**

**New York**

Fai was like a puzzle, except Kurogane only had one of the corners and a lot of similar-looking sky. "Who are you running away from?" he demanded, and Fai almost-smiled, refusing to say anything.

He wanted to go all by himself to get Syaoran. "They won't hurt me. I just need to straighten some things out."

Frankly, Kurogane did not believe him. This was partly instinct and partially because Yuuko had said, "Hold onto him. He's good at slipping away, but you seem to have a strong grip." It was because of this that when Fai announced he was going to, quote, pick up Syaoran, Kurogane noticed the carefully off-hand manner and insisted on driving him. A nasty argument had almost started, but the violinist seemed to cave in on himself.

"You can come," he said. "But don't do anything… stupid."

The bootlegger decided that 'stupid' was not always the same as 'kill someone for looking at someone funny', and agreed.

XXX

The drive to the station was, to say the least, tense. Fai seemed to be mentally preparing himself, and wasn't talking for once. Kurogane himself was silently willing the car to not break down in the middle of the road – It was making funny noises, and a broken car would not help them get anywhere.

As they pulled up to the curb, the doors of the station opened. It was slightly creepy, like someone had been expecting them. "Can't you just wait here?" Fai asked, in a tone that suggested he already knew it wasn't going to happen. Kurogane just looked at him and shook his head.

Inside, the bootlegger waited for someone to tell them where to go, but Fai appeared to know what was going on and headed straight up the stairs. He'd been here before, it seemed, possibly more than once, enough to easily navigate the warren of nicotine-soaked hallways. He came to an abrupt halt in front of a nondescript office door. "Really," he said. "Wait here. I'll be fine."

And despite the fact that he didn't want to, that he wanted to keep close to Fai and find out what this was all about, that he'd_ promised_ himself that Fai was never, ever going to get hurt again, he said yes.

"But I'm coming in if I have to. I'll break the door," he threatened, and the violinist managed a smile.

"It'll be fine. I know you're here, so I'm not so worried."

A second before the door shut, Kurogane heard a smooth voice say, "Oh, Yuui, what a pleasant surprise…."

He sat down to wait. A police officer came up after about fifteen minutes of waiting and offered him a cup of coffee. "So, the prodigal returns, eh?" he commented.

Kurogane, not by nature a religious man, said – "What?"

"Yuui. He's back."

"Who?"

The officer laughed and tapped the wall next to him. "Yuui. Ashura's son. He's been gone a long time, even the pool for when he was coming back is pretty much over. We thought he was gone for good."

Kurogane reminded himself that this man was perfectly nice, had brought him coffee, and apart from an annoying lack of helpful information, seemed like a good person. There was no reason to hit him repeatedly in the stomach until he started explaining things better. "The person in there is Fai. He's not related to – "

Hadn't Fai said he ran away from home? Home, though. Not a whole police station.

The man continued on, oblivious to the loud sound of Kurogane's mental gears grinding into reverse. "Yeah, he started calling himself that when his brother died. A little… funny, if you know what I mean, but he's a nice kid. I always said Ashura put too much pressure on him, that's the only reason he ran away."

The bootlegger tried to sound casual. "So what did he have to do?"

He would have gotten an answer and possibly a end to this whole ridiculous puzzle if that had not been the moment that the previously soft voices in the office got louder.

" – can't expect me to do this just because you wanted to raise a successor. I've got a job."

"You're playing violin in an off-license. That isn't a job, Yuui, it's not going to get you anything in the long run!"

Kurogane opened the door. Both men looked around guiltily, as if they were embarrassed at being caught yelling. "Fai. What's going on?"

"Nothing," Fai said shortly.

"Who's this?" said a black-haired man who was standing at the desk. He looked far too normal to really be part of the police, with his kind eyes and messy ponytail.

"Kurogane, this is Ashura, my guardian. Ashura, Kurogane is my. . . friend. He drove me here."

For some reason, it stung.

"Aren't you done yet?" Kurogane asked pointedly. He was done with this, finished with all this stupid going around in circles. As soon as they got to the car he was going to damn well interrogate Fai.

Fai said yes; Ashura said no. "Look, are you going to let the kid go or not?" the bootlegger growled.

"He will," Fai said. To the other man he said, "I'm sorry. I am. And I wish my brother was still alive, and I wish I'd protected him better. I just can't do that, I can't spend my life arresting people."

Ashura, who looked like he was about to have kittens, waved them out and locked the door when they'd gone.

Kurogane's new friend was waiting for them in the lobby. "It went okay, then?" he said, totally oblivious. "Right. I'll go get your friend."

Syaoran was perfectly healthy, if a little jumpy, and as soon as they dropped him off Sakura practically knocked him over with a hug. She told him, very sternly, that if he ever got in trouble again she'd do something drastic, and then hugged him again, hard enough to crush the breath out of him. Kurogane locked the car doors with admirable speed when Fai moved to get out.

"Wait a second. Don't go running away again."

XXX

Ashura – Ponytails on men were sort of a hip thing, so it might be odd to see a policeman following a flapper trend.

They drove around for almost an hour, until it started to get dusky and the people on the streets thinned to a trickle. "It's simple," Fai said. "I had a brother. Now he's dead. I was supposed to be Chief of Police. I'm not going to. End of story."

"Who's this Yuui person?"

Fai sighed and thumped his spine into the back of the car seat. "That's where it gets all complicated."

The bootlegger snorted. "Don't give me that line. Explain it."

"I'll say it slow, so you can understand," Fai said flippantly. "I. Don't. Want. To. Talk. About. It."

"That guy thought you were Yuui, or something. Are you telling me I don't even know your _name_?" Kurogane had spent the last half-hour wishing there was something he could hit nearby. Like a punching bag, or possibly a brick wall.

"I'm not Yuui anymore. I haven't been Yuui for years. Forget about it, let's go back."

The car came to an sudden stop. Fai, who had not been wearing his seat belt, jerked forwards and fell onto the floor directly in front of the passenger seat. Kurogane looked at him. "Not until you explain things. And put on your seatbelt, I don't want you to get killed."

Climbing back into his seat, Fai said, "I had a brother. A twin. His name was Fai, and I guess I just didn't want him to be dead. He was a better person than I was, I think. I took his name."

"Oh," Kurogane said, privately thinking that he'd just heard one of the most twisted displays of brotherly love ever made.

Fai squirmed around. "Seatbelts aren't comfortable. Kurogane, you said the past is the past, right? So forget all about mine, please."

"It's a start," Kurogane conceded, and they got back just before the speakeasy opened.

XXX

_-that he'd just heard one of the most twisted displays of brotherly love ever made._ - This was, of course, before the internet was invented.


	6. Hair of the Dog

**1928**

**New York**

Kurogane was not and had never been a very touchy-feely kind of guy. He noticed, however, when Fai was being distant. The violinist hadn't been speaking much to anyone beyond nods and vague smiles. He wasn't acting really strange or anything, he was acting far more normal than was usual for him

Kurogane was sure that something was up. He was just as sure that it was something Fai was not going to want to chit-chat about.

One day, after work, the bootlegger cornered Fai. He'd been about to leave, but Kurogane stopped him, "Hey. You. Help me clean up."

"Kuro-doggie, I'm tired," Fai protested. "I want to go upstairs and sleep."

"Pipe down," Kurogane told him. "Do I look like a rube?"

Fai sat down on a table. "I have to go see a man about a dog?"

"Ha. You're sticking around."

The violinist just sat around, watching Kurogane clean up the bar with a wet cloth, and got mildly sloshed. He knew some songs that suggested he'd spent altogether too much time around drunken sailors.

" _- and hey! Brother is loving his permanent wave, it's hard to tell them apart these days – "_

"Hey," Kurogane interrupted.

"No, that's the next bit. Good try, though," Fai said.

"I mean pay attention, you dumbbell," Kurogane snorted. "We've got tomorrow off, right?"

"Yeah. What's your point?"

Kurogane felt like such a pansy. He hmm-d for a few seconds, shuffling his feet. Finally he said, "Do you want to go to dinner with me?"

"Well, sure. Why're you so antsy, puppy?"

The bootlegger made a face. "Do. You. Want. To. Go. To. Dinner. With. Me."

"Oh!" Fai sounded genuinely delighted, something Kurogane hadn't heard for what felt like weeks. "Kuro-puppy is asking me on a date!"

"Don't say it like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like it's all . . . dirty! It's just dinner!"

Fai smirked. "Kuro-woof was scared I'd give him the icy mitt."

"I was not!"

"Ah, of course I'll go with you, Kuro-daddy"

"Don't call me_ that_!"

"Daddy-o can pick me up at eight."

"_We live in the same building!"_

Next door, Yuuko, Tomoyo, Watanuki, Doumeki, Maru, and Moro were not eavesdropping. Not at all.

Yuuko laughed. Tomoyo produced a massive camera from somewhere on her person. Maru and Moro giggled. Watanuki punched Doumeki on the arm. "How come we never go anywhere nice?"

xxx

Rube – Bumpkin

I have to go see a man about a dog – I have to go do something I can't talk about

Icy mitt – rejection

Daddy – Boyfriend/lover

xxx

It wasn't a particularly nice restaurant, because, hell, with Kurogane's budget what could you expect? And it was legal, so there was no alcohol being served. It was nice enough, though, especially when the standards were being set by a runaway violinist and a rum-runner. The food was good. There were candles on the table. They got a few weird looks, a few questioning stares, but for the most part people ignored them.

It was a pretty winter evening, light glittering off the snow as they walked back to the car. Fai had on this puffy white and blue coat he'd gotten from God knew where. He dropped it into the backseat and sat down in the passenger seat. Kurogane got into the driver's side and started the car, ignoring the loudly complaining engine.

They were about halfway back home when the car finally, after four years of staunch service, broke down. "Fuck!" Kurogane said.

Fai laughed. "Language, Kuro-puppy."

"Dammit, this piece of junk!"

"It's the cold weather, puppy. Don't worry, we can walk."

"I can't believe this," Kurogane growled, slamming the steering wheel repeatedly. "What did I do to deserve this?"

Fai was laughing almost uncontrollably by now. "The poor car! It must be so scared of you."

"Oh, can it."

The violinist smiled and poked Kurogane gently. "Come on, daddy. Let's go. We'll call the repairman when we get home, yes?"

"Fine," the bootlegger said reluctantly. He didn't want to abandon his car, but what other choice was there?

They walked home. When Fai realized he'd forgotten his coat, Kurogane wordlessly put an arm around his shoulders. He didn't complain when the violinist huddled closer, looking for more body heat.

It occurred to him that maybe Fai was far smarter than he got credit for, and had left his coat in the car for a reason. It also occurred to him that this did not matter very much. (This may or may not have had something to do with the way Fai had his arm under the bootlegger's coat and was trying to find a creatively subtle way to lift up the edge of his shirt.) After a while he snorted and opened up his black greatcoat so Fai could get inside of it and stay warm. The violinist laughed quietly and leaned against Kurogane's side, pulling the edge of the coat around them both. "Kuro-pup doesn't want to admit how romantic he is," he said, a little teasing and a little dreamy.

"I am not," Kurogane said, but there was less emphasis behind it than usual. He twitched when Fai pressed cold fingers against his arm. "You're gonna have to walk all by yourself if you're gonna do stuff like that," he scowled.

"Thank you for taking me out to dinner, Kuro-puppy," Fai said. "Is there something I can do to pay you back?"

It was very obvious, from the way he looked at the bootlegger, what he meant. His single eye was half-hooded and seductive, peeking out from under his hair. "Anything?"

"Yes," Kurogane said, determined not to cave in. "You can tell me why you're pretending you aren't hurting."

The change was instantaneous – Fai jerked away from him, his eye went brittle and emotionless, his smile changed from faintly amused to plastically false. "I'm fine, Kurogane."

"You aren't," Kurogane said, fairly calmly. "But you don't have to tell me now if you don't want to."

"I don't know what you mean," Fai was really just being stubborn now – It was obvious that he knew exactly what Kurogane was talking about.

"You're being stupid about it. Either tell someone or stop worrying. Don't keep it all to yourself and make everyone around you worry."

"I don't want anyone to worry about me," Fai said, looking at the ground. "I don't want anyone else to die for me."

"If someone wants to help you, that's their business, not yours," the bootlegger said sternly. "You can't just care about people. You have to let them care back."

Fai crossed his arms, walking about a foot away from Kurogane now. "Nobody should care. When people you care about get hurt, it hurts you. You know what I mean? It isn't fair."

"You have to take some risks," Kurogane said. "Or you won't get anywhere."

Fai finally stopped trying to look happy. "Promise you won't try and save me if anything bad happens," he told Kurogane. "If you died and I lived, I wouldn't be able to stand it."

"Did that happen once?"

"Yes," said Fai, nodding slowly. "I died a little bit. I took his name. I don't want it to happen ever again."

Kurogane stopped dead. "That's what happened to your brother."

"If I tell you, can we not talk about it ever again?" the violinist requested.

He shrugged. "You better tell me _everything_, then. Spill it."

They sat down in a doorway and talked as dusk fell. "My brother – My twin, his name was Fai and my name was Yuui. We were living on the streets for a long time. Our parents died when we were pretty young, I don't know exactly when. Ashura, he took us in and raised us. The men in the station taught us. I learned a lot, I guess, not really academics but a lot about laws and fighting. Ashura had us take the school lessons. That's when I learned to play violin," he sighed heavily. "And then one day Fai and I were out when we weren't supposed to be, ran into the middle of a stupid gang war. Fai got hurt. He took a bullet for me. I'd be dead, but he- Damn." He looked up at Kurogane hopelessly, voice hoarse. "That's all that's important. Are we done?"

Kurogane didn't look down as the violinist cried. He was fairly sure Fai didn't want to be seen with any cracks in his armour. Instead he took off his coat and dropped it on top of the smaller blonde. "Don't catch a cold," he said gruffly. "You won't be able to play if you're sick. The band won't sound as good."

Fai took a deep breath and pulled the coat around him like a cloak.

They walked home together, in the dark. It didn't matter that they didn't talk. There was something different than talking going on between them.


	7. Almost Sober

Title: Hooch

Title: Almost Sober

Author: smokexscribbles

Disclaimer: You know the drill, I'm not CLAMP, etc, etc.

Pairings: KuroFai, Sakura/Syaoran

Rating: Meh. PG-13.

Warnings: Umm, not much. A little unresolved angst. Nothing bad, I promise.

Summary: This is the final chapter of the 1920s AU! Oh, God, what will I write now?

A/N: This doesn't mean it's over. I'm keeping this universe, I love it too much not to.

**1928**

**New York**

Fai ran a hand through Kurogane's slicked-back hair, spiking it up. "Kuro-puppy, why d'you look all spiffy today?"

The bootlegger sighed. "It's that witch giving out my wages. She says I scare off customers. What a load of-"

"If they knew Kuro-daddy like I do, they'd know he wouldn't hurt a fly," Fai said, grinning. "He's just darb, really."

"Shut it," Kurogane said, pushing Fai off the barstool. The violinist caught himself and giggled uncontrollably as he regained his seat.

"Seriously. Kuro-pup is the real McCoy, an old-fashioned gentleman."

"Are you gonna tell me what you want?"

"Aw, lighten up, puppy! I want a fruit juice."

Kurogane paused. "A what?"

"A fruit juice," Fai said. "You know. You squeeze the fruit and drink what comes out. I bet you could just grab an apple and do it by hand, you're so strong."

The bootlegger was getting suspicious. He'd never even seen Fai drink _water_. "Why the change?"

The violinist shrugged. "What change? Maybe I'm not in the mood to get lit."

There had to be something going on. Fai was – Well, Kurogane hated to even think it, but he drank a lot. It didn't help that he was in a gin mill all night, every night. Alcoholic was not a word he wanted to associate with this man, but…

"You're always begging free drinks off me, Doumeki, whoever's working the bar," he said, trying not to make it sound like too much of an accusation.

"Do you know what today is, Kuro-daddy?" Fai asked, changing the subject.

"No. I don't ca-"

"It is five weeks before New Year's. Ninteen twenty-eight. It's been exactly, on this very day, three years since I met you." He said this with unexpected gravity. "You know, three years is a long time to be goofy over some guy you aren't sure could ever love you back."

Kurogane wasn't sure what to say, and settled for a sort of "Hnnh?"

Fai was staring at him expectantly.

Finally, he managed to say, "Three years? I thought you'd been working here two."

"We met one night on a boat in New Jersey," Fai said, smiling crookedly. Kurogane had at least known him long enough to be able to identify the hurt in his eyes. "It was cold. You gave me a cigarette and told me I was annoying."

"And you gave me that stupid damn nickname," Kurogane said, remembering. "Big puppy."

"You do look like a great big puppy," Fai said. "Grr." He rested his head on the bar. "I'm glad you remember."

"Wait up," the bootlegger said sternly. "You said something else. 'Three years is a long time to be in love with someone.'?"

"It is," the violinist said. "Isn't it? A three-year, cross-country crush."

Kurogane put away the glasses he'd been cleaning. "It isn't long if someone loves you back."

"I'd like my fruit juice, thanks," Fai said, smiling more genuinely now. "Today is my starting point."

"Hn?"

"I think maybe I should give it a try. Living sober. I think maybe I can face things now."

"What made you decide?" Kurogane wanted to know.

"A couple things. A few nights I regretted. Mostly it was… Having someone to depend on."

Kurogane stared at him. "You gonna tell me who?"

Fai laughed and laughed, and wouldn't tell him, and blew the paper off his straw right into the bootlegger's face. Moonshine for Kurogane. One crutch for another.

Oh, well. This one was more fun.

ooo

Darb – A great/reliable person or thing.

**1928**

**New York**

The bar was more crowded than normal, and so it was a minute before Kurogane, bartending as usual, saw the long, black, troublingly familiar ponytail. Never one for subtlety or carefully-considered decisions, he grabbed the man's shoulder and spun him around. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Ashura smiled at him in a bright, brittle way he knew only too well. "I'd like a club soda, if you please. It wouldn't do for me to break the law more than I already am, would it… I'm sorry, was it Kurogane?"

"Get away from my goddamn bar," the bootlegger growled.

"Ah, I'm sorry, sir, but I'm off-duty now and I'd hate to have to go on-duty very suddenly."

Kurogane paused. "Was that a threat?"

Ashura's smile was knife-thin. "You seem like the kind of person who knows _exactly_ what a threat sounds like."

They stared at each other for a minute, testing the waters. A few club regulars, possibly recognizing the signs of Kurogane's famously bad temper growing short, slunk away from the bar. As if by magic, Yuuko appeared, radiating cool collection. "Can I help you, sir?"

"Hello, Ms. Ichihara. I'm not here on business. Unless your bartender causes trouble, I assure you this entire visit is off the record."

"Down, boy," Yuuko said, patting Kurogane on the arm in what he considered an unnecessarily condescending way. "What do you need, then?"

"Actually, I'd like to talk to Mr. Kurogane. Now that he's not going to kill me, at least." He accepted the glass of fizzy water that Kurogane slammed down on the counter with good grace.

When Yuuko has left, he sighed. "I'd hate to blow the whistle on this place now. She seems like a very decent woman."

"She's a wage-docking bearcat is what she is," Kurogane muttered. "What do you want?"

"The band if playing very well, isn't it?" Ashura asked, ignoring him completely. "Very pretty."

"Yes," the bootlegger said automatically, then stopped. His eyes widened. "You wouldn't dare."

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Ashura said cheerfully, sipping his half-glass of club. "I was just going to say they all play very well. Especially the violinist."

"He does," Kurogane said.

"A… A credit to his teacher, I would say," Ashura said carefully.

"He is."

The policeman reached into his bag. "Give him this, would you? Don't say it's from me, if you hate me that much."

Kurogane took the rose. "What is this?"

"A rose, don't you-"

"I mean this. Why are you doing this?"

The smile dropped. Only for a second, it dropped. He'd gotten good at understanding glimpses, though, and for that second Kurogane could see everything, insecurity and fear and a plea for forgiveness. "Okay," he sighed. "I'll give him the goddamned thing."

"Thank you," Ashura said, and meant it. He turned to leave, but paused. "Oh, and… Kurogane?"

"Yeah?"

"If you break his heart, you'll have New York's entire police force chasing you down. I'm sure we understand each other."

Kurogane actually laughed. "Got it."

He gave Fai the rose at the end of the night and told him it was from an admirer.

**1929**

**New York**

On New Year's Day, it was decided that while three years might be an acceptable amount of time to harbour unresolved affection for someone, four was pushing it. Yuuko would have complained about the noise coming from Kurogane's room, but she was really just happy they'd finally got past the whole stupid "awkward" thing and, well.

She did go up there during a lull to explain through the closed door that if they broke the bed they were paying for it. You could actually i hear/i the embarrassed silence. Yuuko went downstairs to antagonize Watanuki, laughing to herself.

**1929**

**New York**

**(February 14)**

Kurogane felt like an idiot. He was standing in front of his own apartment door, holding flowers and a box of chocolates, and he was actually not sure if he was more afraid of staying out there and risking someone (God forbid Yuuko should find him like this) seeing him, or going in.

Well, he decided, it was Valentine's Day. It was the time for this kind of thing. And his libido was slowly but surely overriding his fear of being hugged into the floor.

"Hey, I'm back," he called into the apartment, nudging the door open with his foot. "Hey! Where are you?" With a mounting sense of dread, he hurried into the apartment. "Fai!"

Fai was in the kitchen, listening to the radio and smoking. He had a glass in his hand. The air smelled like cheap moonshine. He looked up at the bootlegger with glassy, red-rimmed eyes. "You're home. Oh God, you're home." He grabbed Kurogane in a desperate, scared kind of hug.

All Kurogane could think to say was, "You're crushing the roses."

"It was on the radio," Fai told him. "Al Capone had seven people killed. It was… Oh, God, I keep thinking someone I know is going to end up dead. Please, please tell Ms. Ichihara you can't do it anymore. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not going to get hurt," Kurogane said.

Fai was more fragile than usual in his arms, as crushable as a Valentine's Day rose. Kurogane realized how scared he must have been.

"Please, Kurogane. We don't need the money. I know you can't just sit behind the bar all day, I know, but I can't stand the idea that you might… Oh, thank God you're okay, thank you, thank you…"

Kurogane kissed him, carefully, because anything else might break him. "It's Valentine's Day," he said.

"Yeah," Fai said quietly. "Yeah, I guess it is."

"I got you flowers. And chocolate."

"I'm no jane," Fai said, his depression lifting.

"I seem to remember a certain cross-dressing incident."

"I mean you didn't have to buy me flowers," Fai explained.

"But the chocolate's okay?"

Slowly, Fai smiled. It was a watery smile, the kind of smile you have right after a good long cry. But it was a real smile. "The chocolate, puppy-dog, is absolutely copacetic."

**Epilogue**

Kurogane stopped running rum across the border. He's bartending for Yuuko at night, and has a mostly legal day job teaching at a shooting range.

Fai still plays violin at the Cat's Eye. He and Kurogane can't get married, but they've both got rings, just for show.

A few days after the last date in this story, the stock market crashed. Luckily, Yuuko had a "feeling" and told her employees to withdraw their stocks right away. As of now, they are financially stable.

The "crossdressing incident" is, in fact, canon for this storyline, and can be found a hrefsmokexscribbles./10431.html#cutid1 here /a.

Everything in here is as close to historically accurate as I could reasonably get it. Thank you to EVERYONE who stuck with me.


End file.
